2-888-483 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Mr. Alderman Kershaw, M.P. for Stockport, 1850. Portrait from a photograph by Messrs. Beard. 'Mr. Kershaw's immediate connexion with Stockport commenced in 1842. At that time two-thirds of the factories in Stockport were idle; whole streets of houses were deserted; poor's rates and private subscriptions were insufficient for the daily increasing destitution of the population....Mr. Kershaw purchased and set to work the Mersey Mills, giving employment to about 1200 hands. The firm of which he is the head were known for their enterprising spirit, and the variety and extent of their trade...Their warehouses were amongst the largest in Manchester: they had an immense amount of work done for them in other factories, and by the hand-loom weavers in their own homes. They made prints for the markets of Portugal, Greece, the West Indies, Brazil, Mexico, the East Indies, and the home market...'. From "Illustrated London News", 1850.